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A. The Wesleyan Shield
The Wesleyan shield is a
simplified version of a heraldic shield created in the early 1950s to be
displayed at the University Club of
Chicago. The design was taken directly from the family coat of arms of
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism and namesake of the University. In
1953, President Victor L. Butterfield
accepted the design as Wesleyan’s official coat of arms. The red
shield bears a cross decorated with
five scallop shells. Decorated shields were used in medieval warfare to
identify knights and their soldiers
during battle. Pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land wore a scallop
shell on their hats, and so this
shell entered heraldry as the symbol for a pilgrimage. Later, the shell
came to symbolize anyone who had
made long journeys or voyages to foreign countries.
B. The School Colors
Cardinal red and black
were adopted as Wesleyan’s colors in a general college meeting on
October 10, 1884. An editorial in the
Wesleyan Argus endorsed
the change: "Lavender [the former color ] is not a striking
color. Waving as a pennant or smoothed into a bow, it has not the
brilliant tint which is desirable in
a college color ...Cardinal and Black make a combination that is rich
and striking."
C. The Cardinal
The cardinal was adopted
as the nickname for Wesleyan’s athletic teams in the early 1930s.
Until then, Wesleyan’s
athletic teams were known as "The Methodists." A newspaper
report of a game in 1932 with the
University of Rochester referred to the team as "the Mysterious
Ministers from Middletown," a slogan
resented by half the team. The following spring, one of the football
players, Walter W. Fricke ’33, the
baseball captain, purchased a baseball jacket with a cardinal on the
breast pocket. The idea caught on as
a solution to the quest for an acceptable nickname. There
is no one "official " representation of the Wesleyan
cardinal..
D. The Fight Song
"Battle Cry "
Words and music by Clifford
L.Waite, Class of 1906
And then it’s fight for
old Wesleyan,
never give
in.
Fight to the
end
when might
and right shall win.
So keep on
fighting ’til victory
crowns
everyone;
And then it’s
fight, fight, fight, fight
for Wesleyan!
Go Wes!
E. The Alma
Mater
"Come
Raise the Song "
Words by F. L.
Knowles, music by William B. Davis, both Class of 1894
Come, raise
the song for Wesleyana,
Till night
and echo send it back;
Come, gather
’round the dear old banner,
Emblazoned
with the Red and Black!
We'll all
be young again together;
Life’s
short —then fill with joy its span!
The home of
joy is Alma Mater,
Then hail!
all
hail to Wesleyan!
Chorus:
O ivied
walls! O storied halls!
O shrine of
long ago!
The altar
fires our fathers lit
Shall still
more brightly glow.
Come, throw
away all thoughts of sorrow,
And give the
night to mirth and song!
If care must
come, it comes tomorrow;
Today our
hearts are bold and strong.
Our song is
for the dear old college!
Join hands
and praise you while we can!
Time ne'er
shall shake our deep devotion,
Our deathless
love for Wesleyan!
(repeat
chorus)
F. The Douglas
Cannon
One of
the most enduring and celebrated sagas in Wesleyan’s history is the
Douglas Cannon. In the late 1860s,
a
yearly contest, the "Cannon Scrap," began between the
freshmen, whose mission was to fire the cannon
on February 22, and the sophomores, who were charged with foiling the
effort.
Today,
its empty gun mount sits near the flagpole between South College and
Memorial Chapel. The missing
bronze plaque on the pedestal once read:
BORN IN
OBSCURITY * REARED IN STRIFE TEMPERED BY TRAVEL * NEVER DISCOURAGE *
HOME
AT LAST *
Here is a
rough chronology of the Douglas Cannon’s adventures in the modern
era:
1957
The
tradition of stealing the cannon begins in earnest. A group of students
steals the cannon from its pedestal
and hides it in the dorms, moving it from hall to hall. One culprit, too
lazy to carry the cannon down
two flights of stairs, drops it out a window. Dean of the College Mark
Barlow ’46 and a campus safety
officer return the cannon (escorted by two hooded students) at the
annual alumni luncheon. The cannon
is later remounted.
1959
The
cannon is stolen for the second time. Three students, posing as members
of the College Body Senate,
present the purloined cannon to the Russian Mission at the United
Nations, offering it as a "symbol
of peace, brotherhood, and friendship." Dean Barlow reclaims it.
1963
The cannon is
remounted.
1965
On
Memorial Day, the cannon is stolen. Several days later the Argus
receives a note from the cannon, in which
it reports that it has been taken by CRUSH (Cannon Retrievers South of
Heaven).
1966
The cannon
resurfaces in the offices of George P. Hunt, managing editor of Life
magazine.
1969
Two
freshmen try to present the cannon to former President Richard M. Nixon
as a protest against the war
in Vietnam. Nixon declines the gift.
1970
The cannon is
returned to campus. It is stolen one month later.
1973
During
Reunion, the cannon is found lounging on the rear balcony of the DKE
House at the Class of ’18 party.
One alumnus rushes forward to kiss the tarnished muzzle. "The urge
to touch the coppery barrel seemed
irresistible," reports the summer issue of the alumni magazine.
That fall, he restless
cannon disappears from the Physics Department workshop, where new mounts
for it are being
made.
1974
The cannon puts
in a surprise appearance at halftime during a football game against
Trinity.
1981
Nancy
Campbell cuts into a large cake celebrating Wesleyan’s
sesquicentennial and hears a clink. It is the
Douglas Cannon.
1982
The
cannon is stolen from the Public Safety Office by the Doug Addicts, who
leave $5 behind to pay for the
broken locker.
A plaster
impostor of the cannon appears on the mounting near Commencement time.
1988
The
cannon is returned by the Doug Addicts, wearing white masks, during
Commencement, Colin Campbell’s last as president. The class of 1959 raises $100,000 for financial
aid and wins the honor of remounting
the cannon. Robert McKelvey ’59 spearheads the remounting effort,
seeking advice from contacts
in the CIA. During this time, the cannon is confined for 15 months.
1989
The
cannon is remounted days before the inauguration of President Chace. But
state-of-the-art technology
is no match for undergraduate cunning. The cannon is home for 29 days
before it is again stolen.
1994
The
cannon is returned during President Chace’s final Alumni Assembly
address by four masked individuals.
1995
The
cannon makes an appearance at a dinner for Douglas Bennet the night
before his Inauguration. The next
day, the cannon rests proudly on its pedestal during the
post-Inauguration reception. A public safety officer
stands guard. The cannon is removed after the celebration.
1997
A
mysterious box appears one winter day in front of the Campus Center. A
crowd gathers, someone pries open
the box — it’s the cannon! An agile onlooker scoops it up and runs
off into the gathering twilight.
2002
Its present
whereabouts are unknown.
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